There are 4 different questions, total 2000 words for the four questions. The questions are :
1.
Quality in construction projects is becoming more important for
different stakeholders including the contractors because a project
delivered in poor quality can have severe consequences. In this
context:
(a) Explain why quality matters.
(7 marks)
(b) Elaborate the difference between quality control and quality
assurance. Use examples for further clarifications.
(9 marks)
(c) Explain how design can influence quality. Use examples for
further clarifications.
(9 marks)
2.
With reference to The Construction, Design and Management
Regulations 2015 on Health and Safety, answer the following
questions:
(a) An entrepreneur is considering buying a site in Reading to
erect a three-storey block of ten two bedroom flats for sale in
the middle of the town. The site is adjoining the railway line
and is on a busy main road close to the station. The site was
previously used as a car showroom and vehicle repair
centre, the intention would be to demolish the existing
structure and clear the site. Draw up a Construction Phase
Plan and Health and Safety file for this project. Please make
assumptions as required.
(17 marks)
(b) Explain who is responsible for drawing up, updating and
handing over the Construction Phase Plan and the Health
and Safety File in construction projects.
(8 marks)
3.
3. Company BC wins the bid for an office block building project in
January 2024 with the provisional start of construction phase at
the beginning of March 2024. You are employed by the company
to develop cash flow forecast from the contractor’s point of view
from the beginning of the construction phase to the end of defects
liability period. The construction phase is supposed to take eight
months and the defects liability period is four months for this
project.
(a) Explain the significance of the cashflow diagram from the
contractor’s perspective.
(7 marks)
(b) Using cash flow principles, sketch the likely cashflow
diagram for the contractor, only related to this contract, for
both the construction and defects liability periods. In doing
so, please assume that the contractor makes the payment to
the suppliers and subcontractors on time. Please explain any
assumptions you make to develop the diagram.
(15 marks)
(c) Indicate the required working capital and the point in the
diagram where your contract becomes self-financing.
(3 marks)
4. A large contractor company introduced BIM to one of their
projects from the very beginning of the design phase in Sep
2011; it was the first project in which BIM was implemented.
Despite the value that BIM brought into the project, its
implementation proved to affect the role dynamics within the
contractor company and the project team.
As a part of the plan to implement BIM, the main contractor
company set up a new role called BIM engineer. They defined a
role profile for this role to explain the scope of the role, its
general responsibilities and its purposes. The person who first
took that role had a strong technical background and found it, at
the beginning, quite interesting to deliver the tasks specified in
his role profile but then his positive experience changed.
Because BIM was new and many people involved with the
project, particularly the people on the site, didn’t see the benefit
and did not cooperate for the implementation of the BIM. The
BIM engineer was stuck, faced role conflict, and eventually left
the company because he could not fulfil his role. Using the model
of role interaction, illustrate this case of role conflict for the BIM
engineer considering formal and informal sources.
(25 marks)